The radio mast at Rampisham are now being felled to make way for a solar farm, this is a good thing I suppose but we'll miss those landmark spires, we'll miss picking up the world service through your fillings a nearby stock fence on a misty day, we'll miss the footless birds (don't perch on microwave antenna). Below is a poem about them penned by Margery Hookings (shortlisted from the Bridport Prize 2008 under the pen name, Maddie Grigg).

West Dorset Fencing Club championships got off to a spirited start on Thursday with eight young fencers under the age of thirteen fighting for the Junior title. Fencing being equally a sport for girls and boys, the pool was mixed, but it turned out to be the girls’ night. From five boys and three girls, the girls were 1st, 2nd and 3rd! The winner was 12 yr.old Ellie Baldwin, who fenced with tremendous determination throughout the evening and won all of her fights, thoroughly deserving her first place. She was closely contested by her friend, Caitlin Oldham, also 12, who was runner up after an exciting final bout. 3rd.place and this year’s style prize went to one of the youngest members of the club, Isabel d’Arrigo, and it was a delight to see neat and controlled fencing from a young lady of only 8 years old !

Single 'Never Had To Try' released on Friday 10th August, 2012 to all online music retailers

The Pickwicks are the brainchild of Bridport guitarist, singer and songwriter Declan Duffy. The constraints of the acoustic singer-songwriter format, allied to a wide set of influences, have always encouraged Declan to broaden the scope of his music as much as possible. Principal influences are The Stone Roses, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Atlantic/Stax and other old soul, the Happy Mondays/Black Grape, film scores and The Pogues, to name only a few (along with a lifelong love of old country music, but only the most real, of course).

TORRENTIAL rain and force six gales, prompting a Red Alert warning from the Met Office, have caused extensive flooding in Bridport and the surrounding area. Rivers burst their banks and flooding struck Bridport on Saturday 7th July 2012 Environment Agency river gauges have recorded record levels at the River Bride after parts of West Dorset received between 75mm and 120mm of rain in 24 hours - more than a month's worth of rain in a day.

Kevin Parr has launched his idea for “The Twitch”, a book about a fanatic bird watcher who will do anything to beat his rivals, with Unbound.co.uk, the award-winning, crowd-funded publisher. The book’s darkly comic plot focuses on the intriguing world of “twitching”, competitive bird watching that can involve travelling great distances to catch a glimpse of a rare bird. Readers can read an extract from the book and watch a pitch video on the Unbound website and if they like the idea, pledge support to make the book happen. If the book gets enough support, it will be published.

TFL and The Mayor of London Boris Johnson jointly announce plans to add the South West town of Bridport to the Underground rail network.

In recent research it was discovered that considering 75% of westbound traffic in the lead-up to various weekends and school holidays throughout the year was destined for Bridport, the addition of Bridport to the network was a “no brainer”.

Following several incidents in the town involving attacks on members of the public with knifes, No 10 has decided that although no incidents have happened at No 10 it is prudent that its responsible staff receive relevant training to cope with such incidents.